WENTZVILLE, Mo. — Wentzville School District families were caught off guard late Thursday night when the District's Board of Education called an emergency meeting at about 8 p.m.
The meeting was live-streamed for 59 seconds before board members announced the session wouldn't be publicly broadcast due to "legal and personnel" matters.
Less than 12 hours after the meeting, District Superintendent Danielle Tormala announced that she would immediately go on sabbatical and retire at the end of the school year.
She has been the second superintendent in two years for the fastest-growing district that serves more than 17,000 students. Dr. Curtis Cain was in the position between 2013 and 2022. He later joined the Rockwood School District as its superintendent.
"While this decision comes with mixed emotions, I am confident it is the right choice for the district, for my family and me personally," Tormala said in a statement. "My decision was made collaboratively with the Board of Education, and this transition will allow for continued progress for the district. l have full confidence that great things are ahead, and I will be cheering on the WSD every step of the way."
A statement from the district board said it was thankful for Tormala's service and would immediately begin searching for an interim superintendent.
"Deputy Superintendents Mr. Brian Bishop and Dr. Jeri LaBrot will assume the roles of co-interim superintendents in the meantime," the board said in the statement.
Neither Tormala nor the board have shared specifics on Tormala's retirement.
Her announcement comes just 10 days after the school board election.
Tormala served as the 19th superintendent. Before then, she served as the associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction at the City of St. Charles School District, where she worked since 2006 and served as second-in-command since 2008. In 2022, it was her 20th year in school district administration.
State Rep. Tricia Byrnes was shocked to hear the news in her district. Beyond representing the area, it's also personal. Her son goes to school within the district.
"From what I heard, the superintendent did lead this resignation, she will not be present for anything moving forward," she said. "The Wentzville School District is one of the biggest in the state and the fastest growing, so yes, everybody in Missouri is seeing how Wentzville is handling this. I think we can do really well."
5 On Your Side's Political Analyst Anita Manion discussed educators' pressures.
"We're at a time where we see teachers and school administrators are under increasing political and partisan pressure," she said.
Manion said Wentzville, in addition to other districts, is dealing with culture war issues.
Beyond the pandemic, the district faced problems in recent years from debates on book bans and a recent lawsuit from the Missouri attorney general, claiming a transgender bathroom policy was discussed behind closed doors.
"We are seeing another layer of pressure that schools haven't had before, lawsuits coming to them left and right. That not only takes your energy, but resources, staffing and money to fight these lawsuits and deal with this and sometimes it's just too much," Manion said.
Byrnes said she hopes her community can come together for the kids.
"Besides political views, we have children with low test scores, in reading science and math and we need a lot of things we need to tackle coming back from COVID-19. We need to stop with the finger-pointing and put our arms around these kiddos and make sure we're doing what is best for them," Byrnes said.
Zebrina Looney, president of the St. Charles County branch of the NAACP, released this statement:
"In light of the current situation in the Wentzville School District we want to express gratitude and appreciation for Dr. Danielle Tormala. Her efforts to work with community leaders and stakeholders who advocate for a safe and equitable education for all students and fair treatment of staff was met with vitriol and harassment from a very vocal minority of patrons in the district for the last two years. This is a pattern that began with the previous superintendent of this district and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. We thank Dr. Tormala for all she accomplished in her time here and wish her the best in the future."
The next school board meeting will be held on April 18.
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